Kevin Myatt

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About Kevin

Kevin Myatt grew up in Arkansas to the tune of tornado sirens and the rhythm of hailstones, aspiring to be a meteorologist before his studies and career were turned to journalism instead. Though he often chases storms, he prefers living in the cooler, more tranquil weather of the Blue Ridge. He moved to Roanoke in 1999 to take a job on the copy desk of The Roanoke Times; writing headlines and editing copy is his principal work for the newspaper today.

Each May, Kevin assists Pulaski County High School / Virginia Tech meteorology instructor Dave Carroll in leading college and high school students to the Plains to observe severe weather firsthand. The accounts of many of his storm chases can be found here on the storm chasing page of his weather blog on roanoke.com.

Kevin was an editor for "Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States," a book written by D.C.-area weather enthusiast Rick Schwartz and published by Blue Diamond Books that documents hurricanes striking the mid-Atlantic states since colonial times.

The Weather Journal column began in 2003 and appears on Friday's Virginia section front in The Roanoke Times. The Weather Journal blog began in 2006 and follows weather day-by-day between the larger columns.

3 localities in region considered StormReady

The National Weather Service considers three municipalities in the Blacksburg office's forecast area as "StormReady."

Giles County, Rockbridge County and the city of Bedford have met the criteria for the weather service's StormReady program.

Phil Hysell, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg, said there are five criteria that must be met for a community to be declared StormReady:

n Develop a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.

n Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and alert the public (number of ways needed depends on population).

n Develop a system that monitors weather conditions locally.

n Promote public readiness through community presentations and seminars.

n Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, including emergency exercises and training for severe weather spotters.

Hysell said being dubbed a StormReady community has several benefits, such as improving the timeliness and effectiveness of weather warnings for the public, providing a means to acquire Community Rating System points assigned by the National Flood Insurance Program, recognition for communities and programs that have achieved a desired performance level, and helping ensure that a community is prepared for other nonweather emergencies.

For more information on StormReady communities, visit the Web at www.storm ready.noaa.gov.

Weather Journal appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.